Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 469 - 449 Hidden Danger

Chapter 469: Chapter 449 Hidden Danger

This is hardly any progress, why the need to slow down now.

Actually, Gao Yi isn’t trying to act aloof; he’s really pressed for time and can’t afford to drag things out with Huang Haisheng. It’s just a matter of one question, asked and answered.

"You don’t need to slow down, just one sentence, it’s absolutely reliable. That’s it for now, I’ll ask the Russians again."

Without giving Huang Haisheng any time to catch his breath, Gao Yi immediately moved on to the next matter.

Huang Haisheng was stunned momentarily, then quickly said: "Alright."

Gao Yi hung up the phone with Huang Haisheng and then made a call to Sherkin.

Now Gao Yi, the intermediary, was becoming more proficient. As soon as Sherkin answered the phone, he immediately said: "Hello, there’s a business opportunity, let’s see if it’s feasible."

"What business?"

Sherkin’s voice was full of enthusiasm.

Doing a deal with Gao Yi could equate to a whole year’s profit; it was quick, low risk, and lucrative, so how could Sherkin not adore him.

The minor matter of a few broken ribs inflicted by Gao Yi, Sherkin never even remembered.

In the past, dealing with Gao Yi required a bit of posture and face, but now, as long as Gao Yi is happy, everything is negotiable.

That’s the way with Russians; subdue him and let him make money, then anything can be negotiated.

"I want information about the Su-57, not necessarily the original documents; just a research update. So, the channel is crucial, it has to be reliable, accurate, preferably an authoritative source. How much do you think this intelligence is worth, can you name a price?"

Sherkin paused for a moment, being an old intelligence officer, he knew very well what this information meant.

"Hmm, authoritative, highly credible, just the research progress... Let me think, I might be able to get the results of the latest test flight. As for the channel, the most authoritative one in Russia is the KGB. I might even get the original records from the Sukhoi Design Bureau. Design blueprints are impossible, but test flight records and improvement plans are definitely there."

Gao Yi said, "I don’t know much about these things, so the test flight records will illustrate the current research progress, right?"

"Yes."

"Then let’s do it. How much do you want?"

"The price of this information is hard to say, um, if the United States wants it, this information is at least worth two million dollars, but for Northeastern University, it’s at most worth one million. I find it difficult to quote a price, maybe let Northeastern University make an offer instead, how about that?"

"Uh, that valuation seems a bit low. Just quote a price for now. Just make it attractive enough for the KGB."

"Three million dollars. For the KGB, that’s actually quite a considerable amount. Brother, we want to do long-term business. Northeastern University is a good trading partner, so we can’t always ask for a high price. So three million dollars is not the final quote. Try to ask for more, but there’s room to negotiate."

"Alright, then three million, but we need to at least get the KGB to agree to the deal."

"They will certainly agree, definitely agree, I can assure you of that. If the KGB doesn’t want to make the deal, I’ll find someone else. Don’t worry, the source is absolutely reliable and authoritative, guaranteed to satisfy Northeastern University."

"OK, that’s settled then, I’ll make contact."

With such confidence from Sherkin, Gao Yi decided to trust him, but just before hanging up, he suddenly remembered something and then said: "There’s one more thing, can you get me a good hand from the KGB? I need a skilled Russian who can closely cooperate with the KGB."

Sherkin immediately said: "That’s a bit difficult."

Gao Yi suddenly realized that asking Sherkin for this favor was a mistake.

Now any dealings Gao Yi had with the KGB had to go through Sherkin, but if the KGB directly assigned someone to follow him, how would Sherkin continue to make money as a middleman? This would be cutting off his own livelihood.

Gao Yi laughed: "It was just a casual inquiry, never mind if it’s not possible. Contact them first, let me know once there’s news."

After hanging up, Gao Yi contacted Huang Haisheng again. Once Huang Haisheng answered, Gao Yi indifferently said: "The Russians have also agreed, the intermediary will contact KGB. The source from KGB is reliable, right?"

Huang Haisheng immediately said: "Yes, definitely, definitely. The information from Old Ke, as long as it’s authentic, is certainly cutting-edge."

"The intermediary asks for three million, plus my facilitation fee, let’s call it four million. Is this price too high?"

Huang Haisheng hesitated for a moment and said: "This price is indeed above the market rate, but to make a friend, we can agree to four million. However, for this price, we need to ask them for the original documents, not just words, mainly so I have something substantial to report to the superiors."

"Original documents are there, the most recent test flight report, is that okay?"

"Just the test flight... it’s not quite enough."

"Oh, there are also some directions for improvement."

"Perfect! This is not just a test flight report, this is a development and improvement direction based on the flight test results. These documents can let us know the final performance of this aircraft in advance. Are you sure they are willing to sell this for four million?"

Huang Haisheng was shocked once again because, with Gao Yi, what seemed to be difficult tasks somehow became simple. Events that seemed impossible not only became possible but were conclusively decided.

The reason why Huang Haisheng needed time to breathe was precisely because of these incredibly challenging tasks being resolved in an unbelievably simple manner, making it hard to believe.

If it wasn’t for having witnessed Gao Yi’s capabilities, Huang Haisheng might be doubting whether Gao Yi was just a blabbering fraud right now.

"Definitely sell it for four million, after all, it’s free money anyway, oh, they want three million on the other side, including the middleman’s commission, I don’t know how much would ultimately go to the KGB, but I think at most one hundred thousand, that middleman is pretty ruthless."

"It’s not really ruthless, earning the difference is just what a middleman does, it’s normal, very normal."

Gao Yi laughed and said, "That’s fine then, another thing, KGB is called Old Ke, CIA is called Old Cai, what do they call Military Intelligence Sixth Department?"

"Old Liu."

"Oh, and what about others? What do the French Directorate-General for External Security call it?"

"Old Foreigner."

"That’s a bit unexpected, what about others?"

"Other than that... Mossad is called Little Mo, Ben’s called Xiao Fang."

Gao Yi laughed and said, "So it’s just adding ’Old’ in front of the Five Permanent ones and ’Little’ in front of the others."

"It’s just a colloquial name, not any official codename. We use nicknames for those we frequently deal with, and nothing for those we don’t."

Understood, that meant those lesser intelligence agencies weren’t worthy of nicknames, that was the idea.

"Alright, I’ll continue contacting Old Ke then."

Having agreed to the price, it was time to inform Sherkin to start making his moves.

Gao Yi was an impatient person, keen on getting things done without delay. He immediately called Sherkin, saying, "They have agreed to the price, three million, you can start the operation."

"Okay, I’ll contact them right away."

Gao Yi here had pretty much nothing else to handle. Once Sherkin made the arrangements, and things were set, Huang Haisheng could just go pick it up directly. Gao Yi didn’t even need to show up, making a one million dollar profit for just a phone call.

For Gao Yi, this amount of money was trivial, merely a minor episode.

Next, wait for Xinfeng to finish work, for Xinfeng to completely turn into Hyacinth, then head back to Frankfurt to take care of the mission in Germany.

Gao Yi never considered himself as someone who could turn the world upside down with a wave of his hand, he just felt life was monotonously dull.

It was then, around the time Xinfeng finished work, that Panetta gave Gao Yi a call.

"Mason’s done."

There wasn’t any particularly exhilarating feeling; Panetta was just notifying Gao Yi, letting him know that Freedom Wind’s biggest backer was completely finished.

"Received, how will he meet his end?"

"Best case scenario is finding some charge to put him in jail, worst case scenario is relocating him from his original position. The specifics will be up to the White House to decide, but from this moment on... wait a sec."

In the middle of speaking, Panetta suddenly said, "I just got news, Mason has shot himself in his office."

That was quick.

Gao Yi paused briefly, then asked, "Is this a good outcome or a bad one?"

Panetta sighed quietly, and said, "The worst outcome, worse than just being dismissed. We lost the chance to get more information from him, secrets that only he held might never be uncovered now. What’s most troublesome is, with his death, we can’t find out Wei Feng’s location anymore. I had planned to sort out Freedom Wind completely while Mason was being secretly detained."

Now Xinfeng has surrendered, but Wei Feng is elusive and cannot be dealt with, and there’s another, Huaxinfeng, whose identity is completely unknown. If we can’t get it out of Mason’s mouth, it’s going to be difficult to resolve.

Wei Feng is still manageable, his whereabouts are just unpredictable, but if Huaxinfeng is utterly loyal to Mason and we can’t even figure out his identity, that’s a persistent risk.

Gao Yi pondered for a moment, then said, "I will sort out Wei Feng as soon as possible, and as for that remaining Huaxinfeng, you try to see if you can find anything."

If you don’t cut the weeds and dig out their roots, they will grow again when the spring breezes blow.

The aftermath left by Mason needed to be addressed, or it would be a constant worry, making life uneasy.

"I’ll try my best to investigate. Now Xinfeng has become especially crucial. I plan to assign him a long undercover mission, a top-secret operation that only I know about, so he can completely separate from the CIA on the surface. But if necessary, he could also be reinstated."

"Alright, you decide."

Panetta sighed helplessly and said, "I didn’t expect Mason to commit suicide. He must have realized something; now it’s troublesome."

Mason’s suicide had an impact on Gao Yi, but only psychologically. After all, Freedom Wind had been wanting to kill Gao Yi not just for a day or two; they would have done it already were it possible.

But it’s different for Panetta; he’s the visible figure. Gao Yi could run around the world, but Panetta couldn’t. If Wei Feng or Huaxinfeng wanted to target him, they indeed had plenty of opportunities.

Gao Yi said quietly, "I will quickly handle the remnants of Freedom Wind, leave it to me."